Thursday, 17 October 2013

HIV protective drugs 'do not increase sexual risk-taking'

A new study suggests that people who are HIV negative in a
heterosexual relationship with an HIV-positive partner do not
demonstrate a significant increase in sexual risk-taking, even when they
are protected against HIV transmission with prophylactic drugs.

A team of international researchers, led by Dr. Jared Baeten of the
University of Washington, Seattle, analyzed the data of more than 3,000
participants from the Partners PrEP study.
In 2011, the Partners PrEP study found that pre-exposure prophylaxis
could protect HIV-negative men and women in serodiscordant couples (when
one partner is HIV positive) from HIV transmission.
For their study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases,
the researchers wanted to determine whether an HIV-negative partner who
had the knowledge that they were protected against HIV transmission
would demonstrate any changes in sexual behavior.
The researchers analyzed the study participants for up to 12 months
before the protective effects of pre-exposure prophylaxis were shown in
the study, and 12 months after, once the study participants were told of
the protective effects.
As well as receiving the protective drugs, the participants also
underwent risk-reduction counseling, safety monitoring, pregnancy
testing, and testing for gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis 'not undermined' by behavior

Results of the study showed that after the study participants
were told of the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis, there was no
significant difference in the level of unprotected sex between
partners.
The researchers note that prior to revealing the results of the drug
trials, participants were reporting a decrease in the frequency of
unprotected sex. This suggests that risk counseling and other measures
could have been effective.
However, this finding did not change after the participants were made
aware of the protection of pre-exposure prophylaxis from HIV
transmission.

Further research needed to understand behaviors

In a comment piece linked to the study, Kristen Underhill of the Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS
at Yale Law School and Kenneth H. Mayer of the Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center at Harvard Medical School, say that further studies are
needed to determine the behaviors of pre-exposure prophylaxis users:
"Future research should examine the behaviors of pre-exposure
prophylaxis users outside trial settings, behavioral strategies for
optimization of pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake and adherence while
decreasing risk-taking, methods for assessment of users' behaviors
over time and methods for training providers."
Additionally, they note that researchers and implementers should also
investigate the context of behavior among users of the drug:
"Individuals might have personally meaningful reasons to take
risks, such as fertility desires, and understanding these motivations
can strengthen efforts to support pre-exposure prophylaxis users before,
during, and after use." Source : http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/267451.php